Three bronze artworks that vandals pried off a Denver monument for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have been recovered by police.
Three bronze artworks thieves pried off a Denver monument of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have been recovered by police, who are searching for two suspects who allegedly sold the pieces as scrap metal, authorities said.
The art pieces taken from the “I Have a Dream” monument in City Park were found along with seven other bronze works stolen from a memorial fountain in the park honoring Joseph Addison Thatcher, a historic Denver figure and founder of the Denver National Bank in the late 1800s.
“The theft of the bronze pieces from the Thatcher Memorial fountain was unknown until the recovery of the items from the scrap metal business,” the Denver Police Department said in a statement.
Thieves struck the King monument on Feb. 18 between 3:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., prying off a large bronze plaque weighing more than 200 pounds and depicting African Americans who served in the United States military from the Revolutionary War to the Vietnam War. Two smaller bronze pieces taken from the monument were pried off a unity torch and a choir lady.
The pieces weren’t noticed to be missing from the King monument until Feb. 21, when a Denver Parks and Recreation maintenance staffer saw they had vanished and reported the theft, according to police.
“The large plaque stolen from the ‘I Have a Dream’ monument was cut into four pieces prior to it being sold for scrap,” police said.
